The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-08
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
President Cleveland - Pretty Good Dean
oerat Dashed Against the
Monument.


Correspondence Palatka NEWS
| WASHINGTON, ID. c., April 4, 1887.
The Postmaster at Washington, who
has held office ever since the administra-
| tion of President Arthur, and drawn the
lucrative salary Of n, 900 year, is get
| ting very uneasy lest i'm the early days OF
| spring he will lose his much sought after
position. The rumor is that the Presi.
dent has instructed the Postmaster Gen.
eral to inform him OF all the Presidential
postnasters holding over from the last
administration, with the view OF calling
for the designations of the some $50 Re-
publicans that their places may he filled
10y good and patient Democrats. There
| are over 2,400 Of these offices within the
gift of the President, and the fact that
all except $50 are filled by sturdy Demo
Gratis makes II look as il President Cleye-
land is pretty good Democrat, no mat
ter what has been charged TO the con-
trary.
The Interstate Commerce Commis-
sioners are all here and have organized
by electing Judge Cooley, Chairman.
The first thing they did after assembling
in our snow-enveloped city, after paying
thier respects To the Chief Executive,
was 10 call upon the Secretary OF the In.
terror and be sworn into Office. The
Comptroller Of the Treasury has ruled
that no officer Of the Government can
draw pay for the office TO which he is ap-
pointed until he takes the prescribed
oath To support the Constitution OF the
United States, and NO the Commis issioners
draw pay from last Thursday, and not
from the time OF their appointment
Many people are asking whether the
Commissioners will have to pay their
railroad fare out Of their salaries, or will
have it paid out of the appropriation for
the running expenses Of the Commission
The question IL AN important one, as the
Commissioners will have much travelling
| to do, and the railway fare would he a
pretty big item to take from the O. 800 a
year salary. The best opinion seems 70
be that il will be paid out Of the appro-
priation for the expenses Of the Office.
Commissioner Of Agriculture, Colman,
has just returned from Louisiana, and IN
delighted with his reception there and
with the prospects Of an increase In the
yield of sugar. He says that he never
knew what Southern hospitality was
until his trip South. He was dined and
wined from the time he entered the
boundaries of the Sunny South until he
left them on his return home. He says
that If he IL successful as he expects 10
he i'm the experiments conducted under
his direction, the sugar trade Of the
country will he revolutionized, and there
will be a saving Of 40 per cent. by the
new diffusion process. When that day
comes We may expect TO have no more
than ten per cent Of adulteration in our
sugar, and there will be no necessity Of
fighting for the anne xation Of Cuba.
There has been a very heavy discharge
in the Government Printing Office this
week, necessitated partly by the reduc-
tion in work since the adjournment Of
Congress and partly to make room for
appointments. The discharges would
have been made earlier but for the fact
that the employees have been paid
monthly owing 10 peculiar wording Of
the law, which forbids the Government
Printer drawing money from the Treas
ury oftener than once a month for the
pay Of the printers, and as Congress did
not ad journ until the 4th Of March the
force had 10 be kept until the end Of the
month, when the money could be drawn
To pay them. The discharged men mad.
about three weeks ON Uncle Sam In that
way. Hereafter. under an arrangement
between the Government Printer and the
Comptroller of the Treasury. the print
eTn VIII W. pstin every TWO Weeks.
One day this week five ducks were
found lying dead at the base of the
Washington Monument. One of them
was found cut nearly in two as IL cieaved
by a razor. II IL supposed that the early
morning being cloudy the ducks lost
their course and blindly dashed against
the monument with such force as TO be
killed, and the one found cot In two
struck the platinum point ON the monu-
ment which cut II in twain. The
ornithological branch Of the Agricul-
tural Department has ON record numer-
Gus instances of birds killed by dashing
against lighthouses. and has In its
museum many rare species of birds
killed In that way and forwarded by this
lighthouse keepers To ths Department,
| hut the above IL the first known instaDcs
of birds or fowls being killed by dashing
against the monument. y.